The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 12/23/2012 - 12/30/2012

Friday, December 28, 2012

Senator Feinstein's Proposed Assault Weapons Bill



In January, Senator Feinstein will introduce a bill to stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices.

Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation:

  • Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
    • 120 specifically-named firearms
    • Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one military characteristic
    • Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds
  • Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:
    • Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test
    • Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test
    • Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans
  • Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.
  • Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:
    • Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment
    • Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes and
    • Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons
Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
  • Background check of owner and any transferee;
  • Type and serial number of the firearm;
  • Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
  • Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
  • Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration source - Feinstein.gov
Read More Here: http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/assault-weapons
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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Gun Violence in America Declining Over Last 20 Years

Firearms play a significant role in homicides, but it’s rare for otherwise law-abiding citizens to be involved in a gun-related homicide.

More than 90% of all gang-related homicides involve gun use, for instance, while the rate of felony homicides involving guns have risen to nearly 80%.

The rate of firearm use in homicides from personal arguments has declined slightly over the last thirty years, even as gun sales have increased, showing that there is no causation or even correlation to support the idea that guns escalate arguments.

 
 

Over the last 20 years, the firearm crime rate has dropped, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, from 6 victims per 1,000 residents in 1994 to 1.4 victims per 1,000 residents in 2009. The 1.4/1000 is the same rate as in 2004, the last year in which the “assault weapons” ban was in place. Part of this is from an overall decline in violent crime over the same period, but that doesn’t account for all of the improvement. Firearm crimes accounted for 11% of all violent crime in 1993 and 1994, but was 8% of all such crime in 2009.

This decline took place in an era where gun sales increased and carry permit laws were liberalized. It may assume too much to claim that that increased gun ownership and carrying caused the decline, but it’s clear that the correlation runs in that direction and not the opposite. So what, other than the grief over the senseless massacre of children in Newtown, drives the current push for gun confiscation and control?

Read more: http://hotair.com/archives/2012/12/26/charts-of-the-day-gun-violence-in-america-declining-over-last-20-years/
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Ten Fiscal Facts Not Being Discussed By The Media

Ten Fiscal Facts Not Being Discussed By The Media :

10. The President's desired tax hikes -- raising taxes on "the rich", those with an income over $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples) -- would pay for just 8 days of the federal government's operation.

9. The President's one-time, emergency Stimulus package of around $900 billion, passed in 2009, became part of the baseline federal budget and has been spent every year since.

Visualizing the Keynesian Endpoint

8. According to The Wharton School, "The federal government ran annual deficits well above $1 trillion in 2009, 2010 and 2011... the largest deficits since World War II" as a percentage of GDP.7. The federal government is spending so much more than it takes in that it is now forced to borrow 42 cents of every dollar it spends. This is an unsustainable rate -- and higher taxes do nothing to limit spending.

6. The Federal Reserve is now buying nearly all (90 percent-plus) of the United States' newly issued debt in order to keep interest rates artificially low. In other words, the federal government is essentially loaning itself money by printing what it needs.5. Again, according to Wharton, "Rising rates would cause severe problems for the U.S. government. The bulk of Treasury bonds in circulation have maturities of less than five years, which will require existing debt to be refinanced with new debt at higher interest rates. That will increase the government's debt-service costs."4. Even under a best case scenario -- one in which interest rates gently rise to historically normative levels -- the U.S. will be forced to pay $5 trillion in interest payments alone over the next decade. Under other scenarios, the federal government would simply have to default on its obligations.3. A recent conference of experts explored the ramifications of a federal default. In short:
Trillions of dollars of losses would roar through the world economy like a tsunami, damaging Treasury investors, including governments, corporations, pension and insurance funds, individual investors and people who own mutual funds. Panic would undoubtedly harm other types of investments as well, including stocks and real estate. And if the government wanted to borrow in the future, as it most likely would at some point, it would have to pay much higher yields to attract investors. As higher rates worked through the markets, state and local governments, corporations, homebuyers and other consumers would face higher rates as well.
2. A Treasury default would be so devastating that the entire financial sector could well be obliterated.

1. In the words of investor Kyle Bass, "The developed world faces a day of reckoning. It is time to act."

Read More Here: http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/12/10-diabolical-fiscal-facts-what-talking.html

Federal Income Taxes if We Fall Off the "Fiscal Cliff"!

New federal tax liability on the other side of the fiscal cliff!

Read more at http://politicsandfinance.blogspot.com/2012/12/chart-of-federal-income-taxes-if-we.html#xZyTE7e3DpeXBhwR.99